the rest of the story

CONTINUED from the previous post...

Well, over the past 6 months I haven't really had much of a social life... other than the two random trips to Montreal that I had in January and March. The first couple months of the year I was writing cover letters and submitting resumes like mad... and when I wasn't doing that, I was writing my final co-op work report to complete my requirements for graduation. And when I wasn't doing that, I was creating my online photo album, which I swear is still coming... please excuse my extended holiday from that while I am experiencing an upheaval of everything that was my life. I was not doing anything fun or exciting during this time.

Beginning the end of March at some point I started working nearly full-time as a cashier at Canadian Tire... along with my Dad, my brother, and my sister... a real family affair. Being a cashier was certainly not glamourous, but hanging out and laughing with my sister all day and wearing the same clothes every day was cool (ok, so half of that is a lie...). I really needed the extra money though... and the staff discount on so many things that I needed to get for my new apartment. Actually, I got to see a ton of people from highschool and stuff that I hadn't seen in years, so I enjoyed that part of it. Everybody shops at Canadian Tire for something at some point, and I hadn't lived in Stratford for so long that I had lost track of many people.

Anyways, after submitting ~150 resumes I officially moved to Markham on June 2. Since I was given only 2 weeks notice from the day I was offered the job until the day I was to begin working, finding a place to live was an urgent matter.... and the May 2-4 long weekend was only holding me up... and I still had some shifts left to work at Canadian Tire. Anyways, I printed off the York Region classifieds from the internet and then drove to Markham with my mom's cell phone for the day. I ended up being able to view 6 apartments that day. I was not overly impressed with any of them. They were either tiny, filthy, far far away, or any combination of the three. But beggar's can't be chooser's, so I decided on a place in Richmond Hill. However, when I called the landlord back to let her know that I had made my decision, she didn't have time to talk so she asked me to call her back again the following day. I happily complied only to find out when I called back that I got screwed over. Someone else who had also seen the apartment managed to call her back first... so I lost out. Not a happy feeling. So I called my second choice to let them know that I would like to move in.... only to find out that they had been keeping a secret from me. They required me to sign a 1-yr lease. I quickly decided that these were sketchy people and I did not care to do that... especially for a crappyish basement apartment in a house with three kids under the age of 6. So it was back to Markham again the next day for me. I had much better luck on the second try. Again I saw 6 more apartments and found two places that I really liked. I ended up getting a really great basement apartment in a beautiful neighborhood with an awesome young family. They're so nice! I love it here a lot. I have my own BBQ and they have a pool that I am welcome to use (as well as any friends I have come over), and in the winter they take the pool out and put a skating rink there. It's also very big and nicely painted (I have a red kitchen... Yay!!), and my patio windows look out into a forested park area in the backyard... not like the cemetery or highways I know some people have ; ) hehe. Looking back I can see God's guiding hand in my first attempt and failure at finding an apartment and now I can thank Him SO much for that!

Anyways, here's a funny/not-so-funny story... First off, it took me two trips with my dad's van to move all of my stuff to Markham. So on the first trip we made my dad had strapped a large pantry-like cupboard on top of my mattress on the roof rack. Obviously this caused a lot of wind resistance, so before we got onto the 401 my dad pulled over to check all the bungee cords to ensure they were holding up ok and to make sure there were no problems, etc. Everything was a go and we were on our way... Then, just as I began to doze off, there was a loud smash and I jumped out of my seat like never before, except not really cause my seatbelt locked up and practically choked me. My dad subsequently slammed on the brakes, started swearing (which he NEVER does), and pulled over two lanes to the side of the road (this all happened just before the Hwy. 6 North exit). One of the bungee cords had snapped in half, smacking the back window of the van(not breaking it though, thankfully), and caused the cupboard to fly off the back of the van, taking the mattress with it, and smashing into sawdust on the road. Good times. Praise be to God though because the highway was really quite busy that day and somehow it didn't hit anyone and nobody hit it. Had anyone been driving close behind us there could've easily been serious injuries and damages. So then my dad reversed down the shoulder of the road back to the scene of the accident to pick up the mattress. But just then some stupid driver decided to trample it for me... thanks, jerk. It would've been fine before that happened. Anyways, then because the van was packed too full, we had to reattach the mattress to the roof rack (whatever was left of the cupboard was left on the side of the road), however, all of the bungee cords that were needed were now all over the 401. So me, being the stunt devil that I am, ran back and forth across 3 lanes of highway whenever there was a break in the traffic to collect them... and somehow we then ended up with more bungee cords than we started with, hehe. Anyways, once that was done, we carried on our way... but, oh no, the story is not over yet. Later on down the road my dad noticed that everybody was staring at us as they drove past, so my dad asked me to stick my head out the window to check out the situation, haha. When I looked up I saw that because my mattress had already been winded and squished by a stupid driver in a little car, the bungee cords were now holding it down for the most part, but that still wasn't enough to hold down the damaged front end of it... so it was now folded in half and sticking straight up. I'm sure that was entertainment for everyone, but we didn't care and my dad just kept driving. But there's more! Then when traffic got thick around Mississauga, we heard more banging on the back window of the van. So we pulled over again on the inside shoulder, which only exists to a minimum, and only between lamp posts. This time another cord came loose and wasn't lost but was flapping in the wind (my dad didn't let me play any risky highway tricks this time). Anyways, from that point on there were no more troubles. We arrived to Markham much later than we had anticipated and found a nice little dumpster for my good old university mattress.

A couple days earlier I had been furniture shopping and had bought a couch for myself. Isn't it pretty?! : ) It's comfy corduroy and I love it cause it's perfect... exactly what I was looking for. Buying a couch for the first time made me feel so grown up! Crazy. Another transitional moment for me. Anyways, so after this unfortunate incident on moving day I called the furniture store back to ask them to add a mattress to my bill and delivery. And I also went out and got a new cupboard from Canadian Tire. That turned out to be a +$300 mishap... not cheap! Thankfully my dad paid for them both for me. But DO NOT tell this story to my mom or anyone else in my family if you're talking to them (please and thanks) because they have not heard about what happened on that day and my dad does not want them finding out about the money it ended up costing! (They don't read my blog, so I'm not worried).

Also in the "Major Purchases" category of Katie's transitional life... I BOUGHT A CAR! Funny thing is that when I was shopping for a place to live in May, I knew that I wanted to get a car relatively soon, but I figured that it wasn't in the budget for a least a few months yet. So finding an apartment along a public transportation route was a major concern for me. Then when I was agreeing to the terms of the lease with my landlord, we agreed on the cost of rent without a car vs. rent with a car for future reference. My dad was thinking one step ahead of me though. He knew that I was interested in getting a car soonish, and clearly I know nothing about cars, so he decided to start browsing around on my behalf. He then learned that a family friend was selling his car... So my dad ended up taking it for a test drive and talked the whole situation over with him. I was vaguely aware that all this was going on, but I had no idea my dad was actually getting serious about it. Then one day I came home from work and there was a car in my garage that I had never seen before. When I went into the house the first thing my dad said to me was "That's yours. Here are the keys. You can pay me back later. Sign here." Sudden randomness! I find it pretty humorous that I bought a car without having even seen it before or known anything about it, nevermind having driven it at all. But I totally trust my dad (...I would never trust myself anyway, that much is for sure), and it turned out to be a pretty good looking car and in great condition. Our family friend couldn't believe my dad was doing this without consulting with me, but my dad knew I would like it and he was right. Besides, I was WAY too busy with everything else I had to worry about before moving to Markham, so I really appreciated him taking care of this business for me... one less thing on my stressed out mind and checklist, which I needed and was quite thankful for. In addition, because my dad got the car from a family friend, I ended up getting a sweet cheap deal on it... plus he gave me a reciept for even less than what I actually paid him to help cut my GST/PST costs. And on top of all that, I'm quite impressed by how good it is on gas, and my insurance is super low. So anyways, the reason my dad put out the money for me is because he knew that I couldn't afford it yet and it was too good of a deal to let go. My dad had compared it with other similar ones on the lot and decided that now was the right time. I really do have the greatest dad on the planet... so helpful! YAY for not having to ride the bus to work! My landlord was surprised on the day I moved in to find that I already had a car when two weeks prior it really wasn't even in the plans yet... it was good cause that meant more money for him, but he just wasn't expecting to exercise the "future" clause of the lease so soon. Anyways, I guess I should tell you that my car is a silver 2-door standard 2001 Pontiac Sunfire. The fact that it's a standard is another good reason my dad took it test driving and not me. I had driven standard a few times before but I was by no means an expert. I was forced to learn on the job. My first attempt to drive my new car wasn't until a few days after my dad had brought it home for me and i had to drive by myself (cause my dad works during office hours, so he couldn't be there to help me) out to the insurance office (~20kms). Let me tell you, I have never been so terrified in my entire life. I was soooo nervous. I was shaking, my heart was racing, and I think I forgot to breathe a few times. Even my insurance agent was worried about me on my way back home. I tried to avoid going anywhere the following few days, but my parents forced me to go out to get some practice. I was SO scared. I even cried because I knew that I had to move to Markham and face Toronto traffic in only a few short days. Anyways, I've got the hang of it now, but I still don't love driving a standard... or maybe it's just that I really hate driving in this insane city traffic every day... 30 mins to drive less than 10 kms between home and work. I'm turning into the kind of person I never wanted to be.

New subject. When I moved into my apartment, I was "supposed to" be able to just put in my password and plug into the internet. I had also arranged with Bell Canada to have my phone set up and working by move in day. But nothing ever runs as smoothly as it sounds. After days of playing around with settings on my computer and installing and reinstalling drivers, I invited my genius friend Marc over "for dinner". Thank God for computer geeks! He said it was a difficult problem to find and fix, and it was by fluke that he figured it out because it was not what he was expecting (it had something to do with proxy settings), but it literally took him like only 3 mins to get it working for me. In the meantime, both my landlord and I were trying to contact Bell Canada and figure out what the problem was with my phone since it was still not working after a week from the scheduled hook up date. We then discovered that it wasn't Bell's problem, but a problem with the wiring in the house. So then there was more waiting until the technician could come and fix it all for me. So finally after 3 weeks of living here with no contact or communication with the outside world, I got both my phone and internet working on the same day, coincidentally. My mom was in quite a panic by this time, having not heard anything from me... apparently the phone was ringing on her end, but not on my end, and I have no answering machine, so she didn't know why I wasn't picking up and answering every night of the week. Apparently some of my friends had been trying to call me too.... sorry guys!

Anyways, here's a bit of a rundown of my first few weeks living here. On the same day I moved in I had my first visitor! Julie came over to see me and help me construct my new cupboard to replace the one I left on the 401. Day 2 of living in Markham I had my 2nd visitor... Julie again! : ) hehe This time though it was a surprise visit in the midst of my unpacking to invite me to join her for dinner at Sarah's house (my new friend). I was quick to say yes to that one since I had not been grocery shopping yet. Then after dinner that night we went over to Maria's house (another new friend) to play board games and cards with her (since she was stuck inside recovering from surgery on her foot). Then on Sunday, the following day, I hung out with Julie again (Yay! What a welcome!). She picked me up in the morning and took me to church with her. It was very enjoyable and I have been back a number of times since. Sarah and Maria also attend this same church - Unionville Alliance Church - which is only 5 mins from my house. Convenient! Actually, there's a number of churches within minutes of my house that I like, although I haven't had the chance to try them all yet because I've been away on weekends so much lately.

Moving along now... My first week of work was pretty good. My first day was full of orientation, signing papers, and touring around the office having introductions galore. Had I known I was going to be getting my picture taken too I wouldn't certainly chosen to wear different clothes that day. The picture turned out just about as horrible as it possibly could've been... and it was circulated throughout the company :'( Other than that I just did some reading at my desk the rest of the day.... In fact, that's pretty much all I did the entire week. It was the slowest start to a job that I've ever experienced. In fact, even now I feel like I've hardly learned anything yet. Oh well (I'll talk more of how I feel about that some other day... long beefy story, errrrr). Then on my second day of work we had our quarterly company meeting at the Howard Johnson where we were served a big free breakfast. That was certainly a good way to kick things off for me and get a good overview of what's going on at this place. I learned a lot that day (except how to do my job). Anyways... nevermind.

Times have changed, but I'll tell you a bit about this company and all the good I saw when I first started at DMTI. DMTI is a geographic data providing company, so that means that we have clients that purchase streets maps, hydrology data, topographic maps, etc. from us for whatever reason. The official company statement goes a li'l somethin like this: "DMTI Spatial is a leading provider of location based solutions that utilize the power of geography to help companies gain deeper insight into their customers, markets and competition, allowing them to optimize resources, realize greater opportunities and maximize profitability. DMTI Spatial maintains a comprehensive database of individual point address locations across Canada and publishes an extensive portfolio of award-winning spatial data products." We have a lot of big name clients such as Rogers Wireless, Bell Mobility, the Yellow Pages, GM Onstar, the RCMP, Ducks Unlimited, Home Depot... and the list goes on for a long time. I was hired to do customized maps for our clients, however I was told that I would be helping with the Yellow Pages project for the summer while I was learning how to do custom maps because the Yellow Pages group is super busy this time of year. Most of the work I have been doing for the Yellow Pages has been creating maps for the delivery routes. It was funny... my first week working here the Toronto Yellow Pages book had just been released and our department coordinator came into work with her new phone book VERY excited to show off all the hard work we had done. I have now started doing much more work on custom requests at the order desk. I think that once I start being the expert in my area and having my own responsibilities rather than being someone else's assistant I will really enjoy working here. We'll see....

I've also had a lot of fun since I've been at DMTI. My boss and my supervisor are awesome, and I've made great friends with many of my co-workers. I really enjoy all of the people I work with (which has helped make some of the work I do a little less painful). On my third day of work I joined the company soccer team. By the end of my first week I was nominated for the social committee to replace one of the current members who was quitting (I lost in a coin toss though). And by the third week of work I had gathered up enough people for a summer baseball team. We're not doing very well because we're not all that skilled, but it's still enjoyable. I like all sports : ) We had our company BBQ my second week working here, but I've also hosted a few of my own backyard BBQ pool parties for my work friends, so that's been good fun times too.

Besides working, I've been very busy this summer on weekends. First of all, I took a day off on my second week of work for my graduation (finally) and was lucky to have my grandma and grandpa attend for the occasion! Then I was at Jessica and Ryan St. Pierre's backyard wedding near Goderich on July 8 helping with set up and clean up and organization and everything. That was such a beautiful day! I was the MC at Angela and Barry Wade's wedding on July 15 in Englehart (between New Liskard and Kirkland Lake). Everything went well considering my nerves and how terrified I was of public speaking. I was at my cousin Valerie's (and new husband Chris Goodfellow) wedding on July 29 in Burlington. I have never had so much fun at a wedding reception before! Great memories. I love my new relatives : ) I also went camping at Darlington Provincial Park with Julie, Maria, Sarah, Teresa, and Zulema on the July 21-23 weekend. I had a great time with all the girls, however, the park was nothing to get excited over. Then StevenG and Trisha both took the long weekend in August to come visit me. I loved having their company and conversation (and being home for a change on the weekend)! On the second weekend in August I went to Peterborough for Christine's birthday party. I stayed overnight and went to my old church there... and I ended up seeing my old friend Mike Fisher (he plays hockey with the Ottawa Senators for those of you who are unskooled), so that was exciting to get to talk to him again! I was also supposed to go camping at Turkey Point this coming weekend for Claudia's bachelorette party, but I had to cancel that plan due to budget limitations... so this will be my first free weekend in 2 months! Having no plans feels weird...

Anyways, I appologize for babbling on for so long and taking so long to get this posted! Hopefully now I'll get back to a little more regularity.

I would love to hear from all of you, so write me back and let me know what's up!

Out.


P.S. If this is your first time visiting my blog, please see my post from December 16, 2005!!